Author: On Common Ground News

CONYERS, GA–Qualifying for three seats on the Conyers City Council opened today, Aug.18, and will close on Friday, Aug. 22. City voters will elect a mayor and City Council members for District 1 and District 2, Post 1.   Those qualifying for the seats will be on the ballot for the Nov. 4 municipal election. Qualifying times Aug. 18-22 are from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Conyers City Hall, 901 O’Kelly Street, Conyers, GA. The qualifying fee for mayor is $306, and the fee for the City Council seats is $252.   For more information, contact City Clerk Nicole Holsomback at nicole.holsomback@conyersga.gov…

CONYERS, GA—The Conyers City Council has announced its intention to increase the 2025 property taxes it will levy this year by 18.05 percentage over the rollback millage rate.  City officials say the tax increase is necessary due to the inflationary cost of providing city services. When the total digest of taxable property is prepared, Georgia law requires that a rollback millage rate must be computed that will produce the same total revenue on the current year’s digest that last year’s millage rate would have produced had no reassessments occurred. The budget tentatively adopted by the Conyers City Council requires a millage rate higher than the…

DEKALB COUNTY, GA–DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston announces a conviction by jury trial in the case of a Clayton County man who shot and killed a friend over an unpaid loan.  On Friday, Aug. 15, jurors found Shiva Vereen, 52, guilty of Malice Murder, Felony Murder, Aggravated Assault, and Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony in connection with the shooting death of Andrew Carpenter, 45. According to the investigation, officers from the DeKalb County Police Department responded to a call of a person shot around 3:15 a.m. on Feb. 13, 2023, at a sports bar…

DEKALB COUNTY, GA— Following approval by the DeKalb Board of Registration and Elections (DeKalb BRE) during its Aug. 13 regular meeting, DeKalb Voter Registration and Elections (DeKalb VRE) announces early voting locations, drop box sites, and important voter deadlines for the Nov. 4, Municipal General/Special Election. The DeKalb BRE approved 10 early voting locations across the county, including six locations equipped with official absentee ballot drop boxes. Voters are encouraged to mark their calendars with the following key dates: Aug. 18 – First day to request an absentee ballot for the November election Oct. 6 – Voter registration deadline Oct.…

DEKALB COUNTY, GA– In observance of Labor Day on Monday, Sept. 1, garbage, recyclable materials and yard trimmings collection for residential customers will be based on a revised schedule as follows: Monday, Sept. 1 – Labor Day observed. No sanitation collection service.  Tuesday, Sept. 2 – Residential customers whose regularly scheduled collection day is Monday, Sept. 1, will be serviced on Tuesday, Sept. 2.  Wednesday, Sept. 3 – Residential customers whose regularly scheduled collection day is Tuesday, Sept. 2, will be serviced on Wednesday, Sept. 3.  Thursday, Sept. 4 – Residential customers whose regularly scheduled collection day is Wednesday, Sept. 3, will be serviced on Thursday, Sept. 4.  Friday,…

DECATUR, GA– DeKalb County Government and the Urban League of Greater Atlanta (ULGA) have launched the Water Rate Assistance Program (WRAP) to help eligible low-income households manage their water and sewer bills. The program begins on the same day a 10 percent water and sewer rate increase take effect across the county. The rate adjustment is part of a long-term plan that will include a 10 percent increase each January for the next 10 years to fund critical infrastructure upgrades to DeKalb’s aging water and sewer system. These investments will reduce water main breaks, prevent service disruptions, and ensure the delivery…

ROCKDALE COUNTY, GA – The flowers on their graves have long since withered, but for Zona Inman, the pain of losing two children in one night has never faded.  The 56-year-old Rockdale resident said it’s been nearly four years since her daughter, Shakeema Brown, 28, who was a Fulton County Sheriff’s deputy, and her son, Levoy Brown, 30, were ambushed and gunned down. Shakeema’s husband, Jaquavia Jackson, 28, is serving a life sentence for the double murders that took place at their Covington, GA home on Oct. 27, 2021. Prosecutors said Jackson staged a home invasion at the house and then…